NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 June 2001 - #2

[methodic]

Dear websleuths community,

this is my first post and I appreciate being here. Hello from germany! I am reading about cases of missing persons many years now, it fascinates me more than anything else. When I read about Jasons case it was very interesting and sad that someone can literally disappear without any sightings and without any suspect. There are tons of opinions, directions and speculations about that case - most of them are very good and could have really happened but to this day nothing was really proved. I just want to share my ideas and opinion.

The first time I looked at this case you can wildly speculate about anything that might have happened but does that help when you literally have nothing? Not really. We don't know many facts. I began to stick with one theory, which was the most signifanct regarding all facts. For a long time I tend to stay with the fazolis-theory that someone of the employees had something to do with it. They all were cleared out by the police but in my opinion I am not 100% sure what "cleared out" means (here). A lot of serial killers were cleared out first and was proven false when there was evidence found later. In my opinion it is not 100% proven that they were not involved, there was just no evidence or link found. What if they all cooperated for some suspicious and strange reason? Either there was something going on because of his early and spontaneous shift and that his car was in the shop or do you really think that all these circumstances were just random?

It was a wednesday when he disappeared right? And next week he would be working on a new job, taking into account that he only worked few hours at Fazolis, this could maybe be his last regular shift? Did you look at google maps? I looked up every fazoli's, assuming that the fazoli's he worked at is still active, and every of them is either way more near to his home than to his school and it makes absolutely no difference picking him up at school _before_ picking him up home. If they called him back and would have picked him up at school, why not at home? As they needed him spontaneously and it seems it was urgent enough because it would take too long if Jason would walk to the restaurant as Jason told them in the first line. They wanted to pick him up. This is so freaking strange and makes no sense and do you remember the suspect later, who invited boys to his home and worked at Fazoli's? He got cleared out too.... Anyone knows who the coworker was who was picking him up? What exactly happened after the boss called Jason at home and he was not there? What did the coworker do? Why wasn't he driving from school to Jason's home, looking after him in the streets when they all knew exactly when Jason started to walk to the school and it only took max. 15 minutes? There was a clear time schedule, clear appointment...

Of course ANYTHING could have happened but it was a wednesday 10-11 am. I think he did not got any far from his home. Why? Because the longer you walk, the higher he chance is that someone saw you or noticed you after he heard about the case. If you walk 10 blocks, definitely more people would notice you than if you walk 2 blocks (statistically at least).

And then there is the case with Samuel Sherman.

Sherman had a job interview in the downtown Omaha area on 7/19/01 that he went to. He never returned to the house he had been staying at, which was in the 3600 block of Bedford Avenue in Omaha.

I don't know what on earth is going on there, but please... who reported that he is missing? Who is Samuel Sherman? There is nearly no information.... did the police say anything about Sherman? Has anyone asked them about it or who reported that he is missing? He lived a few blocks away from Jason / where he disappeared and only one month is between. Jason was heading for a job interview, anyone knows the company which he would be interviewed from? What is interesting too is, that both disappeared near parks (Adams Park & Lake James Park).

I was looking up more cases and found Michael Ashby.

Ashby was last seen on Park Avenue and South 29th Street. He indicated he was going on a date but never arrived. Ashby was 22 years old and disappeared 1992.

Michael disappeared a long time ago but it was also in Omaha, nearly the same age and he was going to a date and was never seen again (around 10 am). I googled Park Avenue and 29th Street and funny enough there is a park too named Ford Birthsite. Of course this is speculation and no one even knows if this could be related, but I would take everything into account that could be important.

Furthermore I read from another missing case, Jessica O'Grady. There was a man called David Kofoed, commander of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office CSI unit, who manipulated evidence in that case. Kofoed had been commander of Douglas County's CSI unit since 2000. No offense and this might be utter trash, but sometimes I think - what if he manipulated, removed or cleared evidence out of these cases..?!

 

[dotr]

Dear websleuths community,

this is my first post and I appreciate being here. Hello from germany! I am reading about cases of missing persons many years now, it fascinates me more than anything else. When I read about Jasons case it was very interesting and sad that someone can literally disappear without any sightings and without any suspect. There are tons of opinions, directions and speculations about that case - most of them are very good and could have really happened but to this day nothing was really proved. I just want to share my ideas and opinion.

The first time I looked at this case you can wildly speculate about anything that might have happened but does that help when you literally have nothing? Not really. We don't know many facts. I began to stick with one theory, which was the most signifanct regarding all facts. For a long time I tend to stay with the fazolis-theory that someone of the employees had something to do with it. They all were cleared out by the police but in my opinion I am not 100% sure what "cleared out" means (here). A lot of serial killers were cleared out first and was proven false when there was evidence found later. In my opinion it is not 100% proven that they were not involved, there was just no evidence or link found. What if they all cooperated for some suspicious and strange reason? Either there was something going on because of his early and spontaneous shift and that his car was in the shop or do you really think that all these circumstances were just random?

It was a wednesday when he disappeared right? And next week he would be working on a new job, taking into account that he only worked few hours at Fazolis, this could maybe be his last regular shift? Did you look at google maps? I looked up every fazoli's, assuming that the fazoli's he worked at is still active, and every of them is either way more near to his home than to his school and it makes absolutely no difference picking him up at school _before_ picking him up home. If they called him back and would have picked him up at school, why not at home? As they needed him spontaneously and it seems it was urgent enough because it would take too long if Jason would walk to the restaurant as Jason told them in the first line. They wanted to pick him up. This is so freaking strange and makes no sense and do you remember the suspect later, who invited boys to his home and worked at Fazoli's? He got cleared out too.... Anyone knows who the coworker was who was picking him up? What exactly happened after the boss called Jason at home and he was not there? What did the coworker do? Why wasn't he driving from school to Jason's home, looking after him in the streets when they all knew exactly when Jason started to walk to the school and it only took max. 15 minutes? There was a clear time schedule, clear appointment...

Of course ANYTHING could have happened but it was a wednesday 10-11 am. I think he did not got any far from his home. Why? Because the longer you walk, the higher he chance is that someone saw you or noticed you after he heard about the case. If you walk 10 blocks, definitely more people would notice you than if you walk 2 blocks (statistically at least).

And then there is the case with Samuel Sherman.

I don't know what on earth is going on there, but please... who reported that he is missing? Who is Samuel Sherman? There is nearly no information.... did the police say anything about Sherman? Has anyone asked them about it or who reported that he is missing? He lived a few blocks away from Jason / where he disappeared and only one month is between. Jason was heading for a job interview, anyone knows the company which he would be interviewed from? What is interesting too is, that both disappeared near parks (Adams Park & Lake James Park).

I was looking up more cases and found Michael Ashby.


Michael disappeared a long time ago but it was also in Omaha, nearly the same age and he was going to a date and was never seen again (around 10 am). I googled Park Avenue and 29th Street and funny enough there is a park too named Ford Birthsite. Of course this is speculation and no one even knows if this could be related, but I would take everything into account that could be important.

Furthermore I read from another missing case, Jessica O'Grady. There was a man called David Kofoed, commander of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office CSI unit, who manipulated evidence in that case. Kofoed had been commander of Douglas County's CSI unit since 2000. No offense and this might be utter trash, but sometimes I think - what if he manipulated, removed or cleared evidence out of these cases..?!

Welcome to Ws methodic, thanks for the thoughtful and thought provoking post!
This is the thread for Michael Ashby.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...13098542&highlight=Michael+Ashby#post13098542
:welcome:

 

[ekardh]

Good first post, methodic. I've always said there was something shifty about Fazoli's but most sleuthers tend to give them the benefit of the doubt because the police cleared his co-workers. As you pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean squat. It's funny how some people take coincidences from other cases (such as Brian Shaffer's disappearance) and use that to construct scenarios, but in Jason's case those coincidences are dismissed. In my opinion, Jason either bumped into an opportunistic predator on the 10 minute walk to the school or he was set-up.

 

[dotr]

Good first post, methodic. I've always said there was something shifty about Fazoli's but most sleuthers tend to give them the benefit of the doubt because the police cleared his co-workers. As you pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean squat. It's funny how some people take coincidences from other cases (such as Brian Shaffer's disappearance) and use that to construct scenarios, but in Jason's case those coincidences are dismissed. In my opinion, Jason either bumped into an opportunistic predator on the 10 minute walk to the school or he was set-up.

True, but sometimes one may be aware of certain things and pointedly avoid them, sometimes after exhausting some scenarios, all that remains is the unspoken, but viable ones.
imo, speculation.

 

[Sedona3]

I find this case heartbreaking and fascinating.

When does school let out for summer break in Nebraska? I would think on a beautiful summer day in June with school being out there would be many people outside on a Wednesday - parents taking kids to the park, people doing yard work, people on summer holidays.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I find this case heartbreaking and fascinating.

When does school let out for summer break in Nebraska? I would think on a beautiful summer day in June with school being out there would be many people outside on a Wednesday - parents taking kids to the park, people doing yard work, people on summer holidays.

Summer holiday is not for working people though, so many people were probably at work at 10 AM. And a lot of kids were probably still sleeping.

 

[Vital Forces]

Good first post, methodic. I've always said there was something shifty about Fazoli's but most sleuthers tend to give them the benefit of the doubt because the police cleared his co-workers. As you pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean squat. It's funny how some people take coincidences from other cases (such as Brian Shaffer's disappearance) and use that to construct scenarios, but in Jason's case those coincidences are dismissed. In my opinion, Jason either bumped into an opportunistic predator on the 10 minute walk to the school or he was set-up.

I don't doubt a workplace conspiracy (although I've given it consideration in the past) because the police cleared the co-workers.

I doubt a workplace conspiracy because Jason was a normal 19-year old working a normal 19-year old job. We have no reason to think people working in a pizza parlor would want to abduct and murder one of their co-workers. We'd have to take people with incredibly ordinary lives working incredibly ordinary jobs and living in an incredibly ordinary city and assume, without any motive or evidence, that they hatched and perpetrated an elaborate and precisely-timed plot to abduct their co-worker, murder him and dispose of the body.

These weren't mobsters. They were cooks, waiters and cash register operators.

 

[ekardh]

I don't doubt a workplace conspiracy (although I've given it consideration in the past) because the police cleared the co-workers.

I doubt a workplace conspiracy because Jason was a normal 19-year old working a normal 19-year old job. We have no reason to think people working in a pizza parlor would want to abduct and murder one of their co-workers. We'd have to take people with incredibly ordinary lives working incredibly ordinary jobs and living in an incredibly ordinary city and assume, without any motive or evidence, that they hatched and perpetrated an elaborate and precisely-timed plot to abduct their co-worker, murder him and dispose of the body.

These weren't mobsters. They were cooks, waiters and cash register operators.

You're jumping to the conclusion that it must be some kind of grand conspiracy and not an individual or individuals working at the restaurant who had a particular grudge against Jason or needed him out of the way.

I'm not saying for certain someone at Fazoli's was involved, because there are problems with this theory. For example, I'd be interested to know who arranged for the pick-up at the school. Some sources say this was Jason's idea, while others say the opposite. If they had driven to Jason's door to collect him, how would they then explain his disappearance? They would've needed that window of opportunity to intercept him. However, I can't overlook the fact that Fazoli's changed his schedule that day and that Jason was set to start a new job the week after his vanished. No one else knew that Jason was going to be headed in the direction of the school that morning, which means it would've had to have been a rare opportunist if not a set-up.

 

[Vital Forces]

You're jumping to the conclusion that it must be some kind of grand conspiracy and not an individual or individuals working at the restaurant who had a particular grudge against Jason or needed him out of the way.

What motive or grudge would have been powerful enough to move at least two people to do this? He was pretty shy and geeky so he wasn't about to steal anyone's girlfriend. No evidence of his involvement or knowledge of stealing money or dealing drugs or anything like that. If he was about to report the place to the health department I don't think anyone would commit murder to stop him.

Jason's abduction could not have been accomplished by one person. It would required someone at Fazoli's to orchestrate his being called into work and then walking towards the school, and at least one other person to perform the actual abduction in his neighborhood.

Think about the typical pizza restaurant. My image is of several cooks and waiters, most of them well under 30, and then a middle-aged manager.

Quite frankly, I don't think most pizza restaurant employees would be capable of pulling off a carefully timed abduction without leaving a trace of evidence and then stumping a police investigation. Even a poorly performed investigation. Restaurant employees often have trouble getting pizza orders right.

However, I can't overlook the fact that Fazoli's changed his schedule that day and that Jason was set to start a new job the week after his vanished

Work schedules change, and 19 year olds move on from food service jobs everyday.

No one else knew that Jason was going to be headed in the direction of the school that morning, which means it would've had to have been a rare opportunist if not a set-up.

A sexual predator would have a motivation to abduct him and may have performed similar abductions before. It explains everything much better than restaurant employees sans motivation conspiring to abduct him.

I would be open to the possibility that it's a combination of the two scenarios. Someone at Fazoli's may have conspired with a sexual predator to abduct him.

 

[John.121]

I find it a little odd that what we know about Jason has him as this super shy introverted kind of guy who was maybe mistaken as being slow because of a speech problem and didn't really socialize outside of work, yet he was working or starting a job as a DJ or some kind of presenter on a radio station probably one of the most extroverted types of career there is. Not that it really has anything to do with his disappearance but i just don't see how the two things match up. Maybe he WAS talking to a girl or had an issue with a girl's jealous boyfriend or something, that his family didn't know about.

 

[Vital Forces]

I find it a little odd that what we know about Jason has him as this super shy introverted kind of guy who was maybe mistaken as being slow because of a speech problem and didn't really socialize outside of work, yet he was working or starting a job as a DJ or some kind of presenter on a radio station probably one of the most extroverted types of career there is. Not that it really has anything to do with his disappearance but i just don't see how the two things match up. Maybe he WAS talking to a girl or had an issue with a girl's jealous boyfriend or something, that his family didn't know about.

I've also wondered about that. Perhaps instead of becoming an actual DJ he was going to be an assistant to a DJ.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I've also wondered about that. Perhaps instead of becoming an actual DJ he was going to be an assistant to a DJ.

Well he was a part-time DJ for his college, so I wouldn't doubt that he was getting ready to have an actual DJing job. Do they know for sure that that was his new job? I've only seen people speculate about the new job, but did his mom ever confirm that it was for a DJing role?

 

[mstrbill]

I've heard a clip (I'm sorry, I can't remember where) of Jason DJ'ing and he certainly spoke well and sounded confident on the air, fwiw.

 

[TroyinTX]

I've heard a clip (I'm sorry, I can't remember where) of Jason DJ'ing and he certainly spoke well and sounded confident on the air, fwiw.

The clip is played at the end of the UnFound podcast episode about his disappearance. He sounds very confident.

 

[Sedona3]

Summer holiday is not for working people though, so many people were probably at work at 10 AM. And a lot of kids were probably still sleeping.

Majority of people who work get paid vacation time - at least 2 weeks. Often taken in the summer when the kids are off school. My street is always busy in the summer with kids out on bikes and mothers of babies out for walks vs in the winter. My point was just because it was a weekday doesn't mean the street was that quiet. I would just expect it would be busier than during the winter. Plus people are more likely to have doors open with just screen doors closed, windows open, etc versus in the winter when everyone is hibernating inside and at work/school all day.

I've also wondered about the dj job with being such a shy personality but maybe being behind a mic was different for him.

I'm leaning towards the "helping out a neighbour with garbage cans and gets abducted theory." It just seems to make the most sense.

 

[Vital Forces]

What if a neighbor was rapidly backing up on their way somewhere and hit Jason? You can't hit and run when there's a body right in front of your house. The driver took him inside his house, either dead or alive.

No workplace conspiracy or sexual predator is needed in this explanation.

 

[methodic]

What motive or grudge would have been powerful enough to move at least two people to do this? He was pretty shy and geeky so he wasn't about to steal anyone's girlfriend. No evidence of his involvement or knowledge of stealing money or dealing drugs or anything like that. If he was about to report the place to the health department I don't think anyone would commit murder to stop him.

No offense but we are only speculating about a guy we never met in person and do not know personally. Some people might have very deep secrets even their family did not know about. Not saying that Jason is someone who was into something that could be dangerous for Fazoli's or whatever, but wasn't there still the guy who worked there who was into "younger boys"?

Think about the typical pizza restaurant. My image is of several cooks and waiters, most of them well under 30, and then a middle-aged manager.

The typical pizza restaurant is of course never involved in anything that has to do with abudction or murdering. I know a couple cases, even here in germany, where pizza restaurants are involved in some very strange stuff regarding poisoning customers or even behind some murder-conspiracy (mafia involved).

I have still a huge problem with inefficiency of the flow of information about that case. Who exactly called Jason and who was driving to his school to pick him up? What is the truth behind the fact that Jason wanted to be picked up or someone at Fazoli's wanted to pick him up? How many times did they change his schedule based on the day he went missing? Was that a regular case that occured or was it a single occurence?

Remember Gary Ridgway? I read different interviews in the past, even one with this son. His son always told that he "had no idea his father was anything more than a regular, albeit part-time, dad, even when I was in fourth grade, when I was with soccer, he'd always, you know, be there for me". Even neighbors, friends and other people stated that he could never do that, he was a family guy and so on. The regular pizza man, the regular restaurant, the regular family man would not do anything, but fact is, that a kid disappeared with no real evidence, no sighting, no suspect, just nothing that would solve that in any way. I don't think "regular" fits anywhere here, just my 2 cents....

​

I would be open to the possibility that it's a combination of the two scenarios. Someone at Fazoli's may have conspired with a sexual predator to abduct him.

Like I stated above, I would like to know who wanted to pick Jason up. How long did the guy wait at school? Did he even wait there and if how long was he there already?

I will never understand why the police is not giving out at least 90% of the information they have because I am pretty sure other people could help more, even after everything that has happened. You never know if someone could add 1+1 for a new trace.

 

[MatthewTyler]

What if a neighbor was rapidly backing up on their way somewhere and hit Jason? You can't hit and run when there's a body right in front of your house. The driver took him inside his house, either dead or alive.

No workplace conspiracy or sexual predator is needed in this explanation.

With something like that, the person who hit him would have to be damn sure that nobody saw him taking the body in. Why risk legal punishment when running him over was just an accident?

 

[ekardh]

What if a neighbor was rapidly backing up on their way somewhere and hit Jason? You can't hit and run when there's a body right in front of your house. The driver took him inside his house, either dead or alive.

Very doubtful.

I guess with no solid leads, we're just going to run the gamut of 'what ifs'?

 

[Vital Forces]

Very doubtful.

How did you determine that?

I've read your previous dismissals of accident theories. Car accidents don't always make tremendous amount of noise. They're usually over in a matter of seconds. People aren't always on the lookout and paying attention to every detail just in case a crime is being committed.

I guess with no solid leads, we're just going to run the gamut of 'what ifs'?

We're all the blind leading the blind with regards to Jason's case. None of us where there when he was abducted/struck. Any possible scenario should be considered.